Teddy Bear Tea Party
by Hikari Kaitou
Summary: An unexpected invitation from Italy to his impromptu tea party provides an excellent opportunity for Holy Roman Empire to make it clear to Italy just how he feels about him.


**A/N: **Another kink meme fill. The request was as follows: "HRE/Chibitalia, kisses. I think there're too few of requests for this pairing, but they're too cute for me to ask for sex. Instead, I'm asking for many, many kisses, different places, different situations, whatever you want. Just, make them give each other TONS of kisses, and be extra fluffy."

* * *

Holy Roman Empire closed his book and sighed, lying back on the floor and covering his eyes with his arm. He was so glad he had just finished studying for today; looking at the tiny handwritten scrawl for so long had worn him out. It felt nice to have it over with and just be able to lie back and look at nothing but the comforting darkness provided by his closed eyelids. Holy Roman Empire wasn't sure how long he stayed like that before his relaxation was interrupted by a timid poke to the cheek. He removed his arm from over his eyes and found himself looking up at the concerned face of Italy. The blond boy blushed brilliantly. Italy was bending over him, gripping the hem of his dress nervously in his little fingers.

"Are you ok, Roma?" Italy asked. "Were you sleeping? You'll catch a cold if you sleep on the floor!"

"Ah, n-no! I was just taking a little break from studying!" Holy Roman Empire stammered quickly, sitting up.

"Taking a break…" Italy repeated slowly. "So you're not busy right now, right?"

"No, I'm done studying for today," Holy Roman Empire said. "Why? Was there something you wanted?"

"Um, um, if you're not busy then will you come to my tea party?" Italy asked hopefully. "Miss Hungary and I made snacks and I'd be really happy if we could eat them together."

Holy Roman Empire's heart throbbed. He wasn't sure how he felt about going to a tea party since those were for girls, but Italy was inviting him to spend time with him and offering to share his handmade treats! And he said he'd be happy if they could eat them together! How could he say no to that?

"Uh… o-ok," he mumbled, looking shyly at the floor rather than meeting Italy's gaze.

Italy threw his arms around Holy Roman Empire and kissed his cheek happily. "Yay~! Thank you!"

The blond boy went scarlet, his head beginning to spin slightly from the strange cocktail of embarrassment and joy that was brewing within him. Italy stood and took his hand, smiling sweetly, causing the poor, dazed boy's heart to expand rapidly with affection.

"Let's go! Miss Hungary is making the tea now," Italy urged. "Our other guests are waiting!"

Holy Roman Empire let Italy help him up, his knees still feeling a bit wobbly from the excitement of the kiss. The pretty little maid led him to his room. A small wooden table had been set up in the center of the room, covered with a lacy white table cloth and set elegantly for tea. A simple glass vase of orange tiger lilies and white azaleas sat in the center of the surface, surrounded by plates of finger sandwiches, delicate china teacups with morning glories printed on them, small dishes of honey, sliced lemons and cream and an assortment of little cakes and cookies. Two of the chairs at the table were already filled, one by a brown teddy bear and the other by a toy rabbit with floppy ears and a lavender ribbon tied around its neck. Holy Roman Empire could just imagine Italy singing cheerfully to himself as he set the table and situated his other "guests" in their chairs and he felt another rush of affection towards him at the adorable mental image. He noticed as Italy directed him to his chair (which was tummy-butterfly-inducingly close to Italy's), that one of the sandwiches on Italy's plate had already been nibbled.

Hungary entered Italy's room, carrying the teapot, and smiled when she laid eyes on the two children. "How nice that you were able to join us, Holy Roman Empire!"

"I-it's not like I have any special interest in this kind of thing," Holy Roman Empire told her, failing to suppress the flush that rose in his cheeks. "I just didn't have anything else to do, so…"

"Of course," Hungary giggled knowingly as she began to pour the tea. "You know, Ita, since we have a special guest now, maybe it would be a good time to try out that new dress I bought you."

"Ok~!" Italy sang. He hurried to the closet and tugged down a fluffy raspberry-colored dress with black trim, then proceeded to strip on the spot.

"I-Italy…!" Holy Roman Empire choked, his face going scarlet again. "D-d-don't change when there's a boy in the room!"

"Ve? Is it bad?" Italy asked, pausing in his changing to look at Holy Roman Empire in puzzlement, wearing only his bloomers.

"Yes! I can see your…! Your…! Anyway, just put it on, quick!" Holy Roman Empire cried, clapping his hands over his eyes as Hungary laughed.

Italy was puzzled by this but he was afraid Holy Roman Empire would hit him if he didn't do what he said so he struggled to jerk the dress over his head as quickly as possible.

"Let me help you with that, Ita," Hungary offered, going over and assisting him.

Holy Roman Empire kept his eyes covered until he heard Hungary say that they were finished. He peered cautiously through his fingers and his heart skipped a beat. Italy looked gorgeous in his new dress and Hungary had combed his hair into two little pigtails, secured by black ribbons. Hungary finished helping Italy into the shiny black Mary Jane shoes, then stood back to admire her handiwork.

"Give us a twirl, Ita," Hungary urged.

Italy twirled a bit clumsily, the light, gauzy material making up the skirts of the dress floating up to reveal a little peek at his bloomers again. Holy Roman Empire felt as though his heart would give out.

"You're so cuuuuute!" Hungary squealed, sweeping the little boy into a hug. "What do you think, Holy Roman Empire?"

Holy Roman Empire tried to answer, but all he could get out was some incomprehensible stammering.

"Are you ok, Roma?" Italy asked concernedly when Holy Roman Empire gave up on trying to answer and just hid his beet-red face in his hands.

Hungary giggled again. "I think you've rendered him speechless, Ita!"

"I'm sorry," Italy said a bit nervously.

"L-let's just drink our tea before it goes cold," Holy Roman Empire suggested without looking at either of them.

Hungary and Italy joined him at the table, Italy pausing to push his chair right up next to Holy Roman Empire before climbing into it.

"Thank you everyone for coming to my tea party," Italy said, addressing his guests with a brilliant smile. "I'm so happy you could all make it."

"Thank you for inviting us, Ita," Hungary replied.

"Is there any special reason we're having this party today?" Holy Roman Empire asked. He hoped it wasn't Italy's birthday; he didn't have a gift to give him and he hated to miss such a wonderful opportunity to win himself some points with him.

"I just wanted to have fun with my friends!" Italy said brightly. "That's ok, right?"

Holy Roman Empire looked down at the table, his cheeks warming as a tiny smile tugged at his lips. So Italy thought of him as a friend. Surely that was a good starting point for what he hoped to be to him someday. He started out of his reverie when Italy's pudgy little hand found his. Upon seeing the sweet and tender smile that Italy was directing at him, his heart began to pound and he went red instantly.

"I'm extra happy that Roma could come," Italy said softly. "I made the strawberry cake just for you. I hope you like it."

"Italy…" Holy Roman Empire was seized by an almost overwhelming desire to kiss him. His soft pink lips were so close; it wouldn't be hard to close the few inches between them and finally satisfy the desires that had been churning within him for so long. He was just starting to lean forward, forgetting completely about Hungary's presence, when Italy turned his head again to address all his guests again.

"Let's eat!" he chirped, reaching instantly for his already nibbled sandwich.

Hungary smiled sympathetically at Holy Roman Empire who cleared his throat in embarrassment and began adding lemon and honey to his tea. Italy served him a small square of strawberry cake and smiled apprehensively at him, awaiting his opinion on his carefully crafted masterpiece. Holy Roman Empire picked up his fork and sliced off a bit of the cake. Its appearance was slightly sloppy, like Italy really had done it himself, but it looked like it could potentially be quite decent. The blond took a bite and chewed. It was slightly overdone which made it a bit chewy, and a little too sweet, but otherwise delicious. He was quite impressed.

"Did you make this all by yourself, Italy?" Holy Roman Empire asked in surprise.

"Um, Miss Hungary helped me put it in the oven and get it out, but I did the rest," Italy said. "Is it yummy?"

"It's really good," Holy Roman Empire assured him, taking another bite.

"Yay~!" Italy cheered. "I did it!"

"Good job, Ita!" Hungary said with a smile. "I knew you could do it."

Italy hummed happily, clicking his little shoes together under the table as his cheeks warmed with the flattery. He began to add honey and cream to his tea in copious amounts.

The tea party progressed pleasantly. Italy chattered animatedly about the kitten he had seen in the garden that morning and how he had found a coin while he was sweeping in the entryway and about the things he wanted to do tomorrow. Holy Roman Empire listened quietly, still mourning the fact that the chance to kiss Italy had slipped away from him. He wondered if he really would have had the guts to go through with it if Italy hadn't turned his head. Well, perhaps it was better this way; it would be embarrassing if he had his first kiss in front of Hungary. He watched wistfully as Italy tried to be sneaky about stealing sandwiches from the stuffed animals' plates.

When all the snacks had disappeared, Italy patted his little round tummy. "Wah~, I'm full!"

"Me too," Hungary said. "That was fun, wasn't it? You surprised me, Ita! I wasn't expecting you to be such a good cook but that strawberry cake was really delicious!"

"Miss Hungary's cookies and sandwiches were really yummy, too!" Italy chirped.

Holy Roman Empire watched Italy's lips, noticing a little droplet of honey clinging to the bottom one. He swallowed thickly. Surely it would be rude of him to let Italy walk around with a dirty face. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to clean it off for him. Hungary noticed the way Holy Roman Empire was looking at Italy and giggled quietly behind her hand. That was her cue to take her leave. Holy Roman Empire might not be able to make his move if she was there.

"Ah, I just remembered something I have to do," she lied. "I'll be back to help you clean up in about half an hour, ok Ita?"

"Oh, ok," Italy said. "Thank you, Miss Hungary."

"Not at all," Hungary trilled gleefully as she left the two of them alone, closing the door behind her. As much as she wished she could stay and watch, she felt that she should at least allow their first kiss to be private.

Italy turned to look at Holy Roman Empire with a smile, though that smile faded with nervousness when he saw the way the other boy was looking at him. "What is it? I'm sorry!" he squeaked.

Holy Roman Empire's only reply was to take Italy's bottom lip between his, clearing away the droplet of honey with his kiss. Italy froze in surprise but made no move to pull away. The kiss was warm and sweet and made him feel all tingly and floaty inside. Italy's eyes fluttered closed blissfully. It was perhaps a full two seconds before Holy Roman Empire realized what he was doing, and jerked back, his face glowing like the setting sun.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stammered. "I… you had some honey on your lip so I just… Ah, I'm such an idiot! I'm really sorry, Italy!"

Italy touched his lips dazedly, his cheeks pink with a delicate flush. Then he looked up at Holy Roman Empire, confusion in his amber-colored eyes. "Why does Holy Roman Empire say sorry?"

"Eh?" Holy Roman Empire asked. "W-what do you mean? I k-k-kissed you without permission…"

"But you say sorry when you do something that hurts someone's feelings or something that made them mad," Italy said softly. "But when Roma kissed me just now, I… I felt really happy."

Holy Roman Empire's heart did ecstatic summersaults in his chest. Italy took his hands timidly.

"I really like Roma," he continued.

"Italy…" His head was spinning, his chest felt like it was squeezing and expanding all at once and his face was so red it felt like it might actually be giving off light, but he couldn't remember ever having been happier. "Then, um… if it's ok… Can… can I… maybe do it again?"

Italy smiled and touched their lips together gently. The kiss was clumsy and inexperienced; their lips simply covered each other, hardly parted, tongues uninvolved. The two young children didn't know that anything beyond simple contact was required. That didn't make their kiss any less heartfelt or passionate. The two of them, weak-kneed, stumbled out of their chairs and knelt on the floor, holding each other shyly.

When their lips met again, Holy Roman Empire missed his mark, landing on the corner of Italy's mouth instead. He hurriedly attempted to make it seem as though he had intended to do so, trailing over Italy's soft, round cheek, his kisses straying near Italy's ear and making him giggle at the gentle tickling sensation. The little Italian returned them just as eagerly all over Holy Roman Empire's face. Eventually they parted, short of breath, cheeks flushed. Italy's stubborn little curl was looking oddly heart-shaped.

"That was even better than pasta," Italy breathed, sounding as though he was having a hard time believing the words that were coming out of his own mouth.

Holy Roman Empire didn't say anything, not yet trusting himself to say anything intelligible. He rested his head on Italy's shoulder and kissed his neck, drawing another melodic giggle from him.

"I…I like you a lot, Italy," Holy Roman Empire mumbled eventually.

"Really?" Italy asked hopefully. "Ve~, then… can we do this again later?" He indicated the meaning of "this" by kissing Holy Roman Empire's temple. "I was thinking every day would be nice."

"M…Mm," Holy Roman Empire agreed, smiling shyly into the crook of Italy's neck.

Hungary, who hadn't been able to resist coming back to check on them, clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a joyful little squeal.


End file.
